Results for ENERGY

A weekend field trip featuring renewable and nonrenewable energy installations in Northern California. Tour geothermal, bioenergy, and natural gas field sites with expert guides from the Department of Energy Resources Engineering. Requirements: One campus meeting and weekend field trip. Enrollment limited to 25. Freshman have first choice.

The energy sources that power society are rooted in fossil energy although energy from the core of the Earth and the sun is almost inexhaustible; but the rate at which energy can be drawn from them with today's technology is limited. The renewable energy resource base, its conversion to useful forms, and practical methods of energy storage. Geothermal, wind, solar, biomass, and tidal energies; resource extraction and its consequences. Recommended: MATH 21 or 42.

This course explores the transition to a sustainable energy system at large scales (national and global), and over long time periods (decades). Explores the drivers of global energy demand and the fundamentals of technologies that can meet this demand sustainably. Focuses on constraints affecting large-scale deployment of technologies, as well as inertial factors affecting this transition. Problems will involve modeling global energy demand, deployment rates for sustainable technologies, technological learning and economics of technical change. Recommended: ENERGY 101, 102.

The success of energy projects and companies is judged by technical, economic and financial criteria. This course will introduce concepts of engineering economy, e.g., time value of money, life cycle costs and financial metrics, and explore their application to the business of energy. We will use case studies, business school cases and possibly industry guest lecturers. Examples from the hydrocarbon businesses that dominate energy today will provide the framework for the analysis of both conventional and renewable energy.

The Deepwater Horizon blowout and spill in April 2010 occurred on one of the most advanced deepwater drilling rigs in the world operated by one of the most experienced companies. In this course we will look at and discuss the technologies and management practices involved in deepwater drilling and discuss how an accident like this happens and what could have been done differently to avoid it. We will focus on the Horizon and also look briefly at other high profile industrial and technological accidents.

(Same as GP241) Practical methods for quantitative characterization and uncertainty assessment of subsurface reservoir models integrating well-log and seismic data. Multidisciplinary combination of rock-physics, seismic attributes, sedimentological information and spatial statistical modeling techniques. Student teams build reservoir models using limited well data and seismic attributes typically available in practice, comparing alternative approaches. Software provided (SGEMS, Petrel, Matlab).nnRecommended: ERE240/260, or GP222/223, or GP260/262 or GES253/257; ERE246, GP112

On-the-job practical training under the guidance of on-site supervisors. Required report detailing work activities, problems, assignments and key results. Prerequisite: written consent of instructor.

Lectures, problems. Application of solutions of unsteady flow in porous media to transient pressure analysis of oil, gas, water, and geothermal wells. Pressure buildup analysis and drawdown. Design of well tests. Computer-aided interpretation.

Leading field trips, preparing lecture notes, quizzes under supervision of the instructor. May be repeated for credit.

Original and guided research problems with comprehensive report. May be repeated for credit.

May be repeated for credit.

Individual or group capstone project in Energy Resources Engineering. Emphasis is on report preparation. May be repeated for credit.

Lectures, problems. General flow equations, tensor permeabilities, steady state radial flow, skin, and succession of steady states. Injectivity during fill-up of a depleted reservoir, injectivity for liquid-filled reservoirs. Flow potential and gravity forces, coning. Displacements in layered reservoirs. Transient radial flow equation, primary drainage of a cylindrical reservoir, line source solution, pseudo-steady state. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: 221.

Lectures, problems. Theory of multicomponent, multiphase flow in porous media. Miscible displacement: diffusion and dispersion, convection-dispersion equations and its solutions. Method of characteristic calculations of chromatographic transport of multicomponent mixtures. Development of miscibility and interaction of phase behavior with heterogeneity. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: CME 200.

The physics, theories, and methods of evaluating chemical, miscible, and thermal enhanced oil recovery projects. Existing methods and screening techniques, and analytical and simulation based means of evaluating project effectiveness. Dispersion-convection-adsorption equations, coupled heat, and mass balances and phase behavior provide requisite building blocks for evaluation.

State of the art tools and analyses; the technology, rock physical basis, and applications of each measurement. Hands-on computer-based analyses illustrate instructional material. Guest speakers on formation evaluation topics. Prerequisites: 130 or equivalent; basic well logging; and standard practice and application of electric well logs.

Geostatistical theory and practical methodologies for quantifying and simulating spatial and spatio-temporal patterns for the Earth Sciences. Real case development of models of spatial continuity, including variograms, Boolean models and training images. Estimation versus simulation of spatial patterns. Loss functions. Estimation by kriging, co-kriging with secondary data. Dealing with data on various scales. Unconditional and conditional Boolean simulation, sequential simulation for continuous and categorical variables. Multi-variate geostatistical simulation. Probabilistic and pattern-based approaches to multiple-point simulation. Trend, secondary variable, auxiliary variable and probability-type constraints. Quality control techniques on generated models. Workflows for practical geostatistical applications in mining, petroleum, hydrogeology, remote sensing and environmental sciences. prerequisites: Energy 160/260 or basic course in data analysis/statistics

(Same as GP241) Practical methods for quantitative characterization and uncertainty assessment of subsurface reservoir models integrating well-log and seismic data. Multidisciplinary combination of rock-physics, seismic attributes, sedimentological information and spatial statistical modeling techniques. Student teams build reservoir models using limited well data and seismic attributes typically available in practice, comparing alternative approaches. Software provided (SGEMS, Petrel, Matlab).nnRecommended: ERE240/260, or GP222/223, or GP260/262 or GES253/257; ERE246, GP112

Conceptual models of heat and mass flows within geothermal reservoirs. The fundamentals of fluid/heat flow in porous media; convective/conductive regimes, dispersion of solutes, reactions in porous media, stability of fluid interfaces, liquid and vapor flows. Interpretation of geochemical, geological, and well data to determine reservoir properties/characteristics. Geothermal plants and the integrated geothermal system.

Special Topics in Energy Resources Engineering

Focused study in research areas within the department. Graduate students may participate in advanced work in areas of particular interest prior to making a final decision on a thesis subject. Current research in the SUPRI-A group. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

Independent studies under the direction of a faculty member for which academic credit may properly be allowed.

Interdisciplinary exploration of current energy challenges and opportunities, with talks by faculty, visitors, and students. May be repeated for credit.

For TAs in Energy Resources Engineering. Course and lecture design and preparation; lecturing practice in small groups. Classroom teaching practice in an Energy Resources Engineering course for which the participant is the TA (may be in a later quarter). Taught in collaboration with the Center for Teaching and Learning.

Graduate-level work in experimental, computational, or theoretical research. Special research not included in graduate degree program. May be repeated for credit.

Experimental, computational, or theoretical research. Advanced technical report writing. Limited to 6 units total. (Staff)

Graduate-level work in experimental, computational, or theoretical research for Engineer students. Advanced technical report writing. Limited to 15 units total, or 9 units total if 6 units of 361 were previously credited.

Graduate-level work in experimental, computational, or theoretical research for Ph.D. students. Advanced technical report writing.

Graduate-level research work not related to report, thesis, or dissertation. May be repeated for credit.